I Chopped Off a Foot…Twelve Inches of Hair

Image from Pantene's Website

I keep waiting to feel sad, but it’s just not happening.  My friends who’ve already done this warned me that I’d be sad.  I’ll cry, they cautioned, it will take awhile to get used to the change.  The latter part is true for sure, but not in a negative way.  I’m chronically squeezing out too much shampoo and then too much conditioner.  As someone raised as a Lutheran Scot in the Midwest, I definitely feel guilty about that waste, but not sad.

A week and a one-half ago, I cut off twelve inches of hair which I donated to the Pantene Beautiful Lengths Program.  This program’s mission is to provide wigs to women who lose their hair due to cancer treatments.  (I considered donating to Locks of Love, which makes wigs for children.  However, most LoL recipients suffer from alopecia and cancer is a more personal cause for me and my family.  I looked into both organizations and both are solid causes.)  The last time my hair was this short, I still had baby teeth and Mr. Reagan was clamoring for Mr. Gorbachev to “tear down that wall.”  It’s clearly been awhile.  I did maintain enough length that my hair is roughly at my shoulders and I can pull it back into a perky (short) little ponytail.  Still, it feels kind of crazy.  I reach back to touch it all the time, to make sure it’s there, but it’s also not all there.

Big Flats Beer: A Review of a $.04/oz Beer

Big Flats Beer in a Festive Coozy...MADE WITH LOVE!

When my friend Suzy read an article about Walgreens adding a store brand beer, she knew two things: she would be trying it and she would be alerting me, so we would try it together.  My friend Suzy is clearly brilliant – working towards her Ph.D. at a top institution, obviously. 

We are (usually) lucky to live in an area where alcohol is easily and readily available to people of legal drinking age.  Seriously, The Target sells The Spirits, so a person could hypothetically add a couple of handles of Smirnoff and a few suitcases of Bud Light to a Club Wed registry.  Thus, our local Walgreens is one of the many licensed to sell beer, including Big Flats.  At a pre-tax price of $2.99, we licensed ourselves to buy.  Actually, that is an untruth.  Suzy and another friend, Pete-ah bought the beer; I brought brownies I made from a box and craft supplies.  Crafting is a panacea of sorts, so it seemed like a good idea to have at the ready since we were a bit skeptical about chain-pharmacy beer.

To Be Continued…Really?!?!

The broadcasts of today’s NFL Divisional Championship games featured a pretty even ratio of game to commercial.  While ad time during the Superbowl is widely hailed as THE commercial showcase in the US (although it’s admittedly a shell of its former self…) I do not doubt that ad space during today’s games also went for a premium. 

That being said, what I DON’T get is the Budweiser ads and their ‘to be continued February 6…” nonsense.  It’s an advertisement.  For Budweiser.  Beer.  At present, the ad plays a pair of womanly cowgirl legs walking into an old-timey, Western bar.  I’m pretty sure I know how this is going to end.  (SPOILER ALERT: With a broad getting a beer.) 

Budweiser, please focus on the Clydesdales and bring back the frogs.  You are not a very good beer and this “to be continued” stuff is not very good advertising.

Product Recall!

I monitor product recalls because it is my job and because I am Major General Safety.  I am going to win the war against stupid; safety is no accident. 

I get the recall notices for pretty much everything (I’m on the general list) and the recalls pertaining to children’s products twice (I’m on that list too).  Today I got a recall for pajamas, by which I mean I got it twice.  Here’s the defective product:

Woah!

Yesterday was the 25th time I’ve title a post “Five Good Things.”  Initially – and intermittantly - I tried/try to be sassy with my titles so that was the 48th 5GT overall.  FORTY EIGHT!  That’s 240 good things. 

It’s not that bad to be me.

Winter Survival Tip #1

I live in the tundra, where winters are long, cold, and harsh.  The lack of daylight, biting winds, and frigid temperatures are hard on both my complexion and my emotional state.  One of my former coaches would likely refer to this extended season as “an exercise in mental toughness.”  However, always lived in places where I spend way more on snowboots than swimsuits and scarves are for function versus fashion.  I believe this makes me qualified to dole out some advice – a WINTER SURVIVAL TIP, likely the first of many I will share.  Let me be your “Get Through This Guru.”

This week’s weather report for my zip code is rather depressing.  Basically, if at any point, I walk outside with wet hair, my hair will freeze.  This does not put me in my happy place.  This puts me in a place where I question why I do not own a hairdryer and potentially puts me in a place that sells hairdryers.*   I tell myself this also means I could totally flood my backyard and go ice skating; but I also need a bit more. 

Effective ICE Contacts

My family bought our first cell phone – “for the family” – in the early 1990s.   It was roughly the size of our smaller cat; the battery alone outweighs my current phone.  And actually using that original cell phone?  Emergencies only!  Quick emergencies only!  Quite the opposite of my current life, in which my phone is where I check and send emails and text messages, find recipes online while at the grocery store, ask “The Goog” pressing questions, get directions, play games, study for the GRE, and yes, make the occasional call.  Despite all of its fancy tricks, emergency calls remain its most basic and most important function. 

 

I’m going to try not to get overly dramatic, but the most important thing your cell phone can do is aid you in an emergency.  Whether it’s a life-saving call to 911 or a call to a contact during a rough situation or medical info stored in notes; your cell phone can help big time.  If you do not already have an ICE (In Case of Emergency) contact stored in your phone, do it.  Do it now. 

Inflight WiFi

I’m flying Delta, a mistake for other reasons, who is offering free in-flight wifi through the holidays.  So far I’ve used it to:

1.) Search flights to family destination Christmas (woo!)…not on Delta

2.) Check the arrival status of my flight and email a text to the friend who is picking me up, telling her my delay has increased while inair.

3.) Play on facebook, gchat, and email.

4.) Take and post a picture of my ridiculous amounts of legroom (emergency exit row + almost a legal midget in Canada) on facebook.

5.) Blog.

Basically, what I would do at home.   I find the whole concept of in-flight wifi kind of ridiculous.  I mean, none of those things were at all pressing.  I remember the days when flights were spent with parents just threatening to beat their children with the books they were not reading, if they didn’t quiet down.

The Image of the Invisible

I attended a discussion a couple nights back and this phrase really sprung out at me: the image of the invisible

Rationalization, Please (Toddler Toys)

Bad decisions can be defended with good arguments.  I’ve personally made some less than stellar choices – three time traffic court defendant!  However, I balance those missteps with some more than stellar rationalizations – three time traffic court WINNER!  As previously listed while I think (know) that there are some nasty toys out there, it’s pretty easy to argue reasons for purchasing and gifting them.  Please note that I am not saying that you ought to purchase them, I’m merely saying that if you happen to purchase them and need to explain yourself…well, basically I’m an enabler.  “It looked like fun” is a pretty lame defense.  If you want to go with a fun line of reasoning, back it up with a relevant opinion – the salesperson, a mom/dad/kid in the aisle said it’s a favorite at their house, your own kid, winning some award, etc.  An “award” sticker on a box is always a good first line of defense.